Wednesday, 27 January 2010

The big clean up

Rue des fourbisseursI fell behind with a full week out of posting so these photos are almost two weeks old but I wanted to show them nevertheless. Those big piles of packed snow are really unusual in Avignon and I love the wet pavements' shiny surface.As soon as the air warmed up a bit shop owners and city council workers joined forces in a frantic activity to clean up the streets. But I am amazed to discover the longevity of compacted snow : today there are still a few locations around town or in the country where piles of snow can be seen - isn't it amazing that they haven't melted down completely?Update at 10:00 am: just when I thought snow was a thing of a past we had a new snow storm last night and we woke up to a fresh (if thin) coat of the white stuff. This morning I saw shop owners sweeping snow off their door step just as you see here, so these photos are quite appropriate for today in the end ! And since I went for a walk in town this morning, you might get more snow photos tomorrow ! :-)))

Even the old snow in Avivgnon stays so white!Here in Chicago, that pile would have a layer of black on top.Dirt, pollution(?), the after effects of salted streets - city muck. They do things right in Provence. :)

I would like to say to Chuck, that our snow will stay glimmering white about four months and in April it starts to look less white on the road sides mostly :)) But everything is different here, I know.Nice winter days to you, Nathalie, soon you have there a spring and flowers. .

After six years in Australia and five years of city life in Avignon I moved to the countryside near the small village of Beaumes-de-Venise. Once dedicated to street photography my blog has since taken a more rural note but the beautiful region of Provence is an constant source of inspiration.